The Government Records Council (GRC) has made changes to the way in which it conducts its council meetings as part of a commitment to transparency and openness in government.

The changes are as follows:

All parties whose cases are scheduled for adjudication at a public Council meeting will be informed of this by e-mail, telephone or regular mail before the meeting.

A summary of the recommended conclusion for each case on the agenda will be provided in hard copy at the meeting, along with the meeting agenda.

The case conclusion summaries will be published on the Web site on the morning of the Council meeting.

The Chairperson will announce at the beginning of the meeting that copies of the case summary document are available for all attendees.

The manner in which cases are called will also be changed. The Chairperson will call the cases thusly: "(Complainant's name) vs. (Agency), GRC Complaint No. XXXX-YY. Is there any discussion regarding this matter?" If there is discussion, it will take place at this time. If there is no discussion, the Chairperson will state "Hearing none, is there a motion to accept the proposed Findings and Recommendations of the Executive Director?" The motion will then proceed. The motion will be made and seconded and the roll call taken on each case.

The GRC is committed to making the Open Public Records Act (OPRA) work for the citizens of New Jersey. Since the law's inception, the GRC has worked hard to make government records more easily accessible to the public. The GRC is committed to being the facilitator of open government in New Jersey and is delighted to make these changes in furtherance of that objective.

Seeing this link on any public agency web site brings up information about the agency's public record access information. New Jersey public agencies are urged to use this symbol to bring web users to their OPRA information.